Welcome to the PokéCommunity!

Hi there! Thanks for visiting PokéCommunity. We’re a group of Pokémon fans dedicated to providing the best place on the Internet for discussing ideas and sharing fan-made content. Welcome! We’re glad you’re here.

In order to join our community we need you to create an account with us. Doing so will allow you to make posts, submit and view fan art and fan fiction, download fan-made games, and much more. It’s quick and easy; just click here and follow the instructions.

PGM is all set for February. This month, we're playing through a game known as Eevee's Tile Trial. If you wish to earn rewards, please head over to our event thread by clicking on the provided link and give yourself a shot at the game!

Hey Unregistered! How fast can you game? The Marathon II is up and running in Video Game's - compete against your friends to see how quickly you can complete sixty intense in-game challenges. See you there!

"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all." - H. L. Mencken, unsourced

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"- Isaac Asimov, Column in Newsweek (21 January 1980) [source]

Being raised both Irish and catholic , my first response was "Churches don't pay tax though..."
Looking into it a bit more, I came up with the same reason.

As for the people in the church, be they priest or simple follower, then yes, through taxes is acceptable. Just because someone doesn't want to take the option of contraceptives doesn't mean others do as well.
Taxes pay for everything, from Roads, Hospitals, Military spending (though in Ireland we don't have what you'd call a military), Education, ect.
I don't like the fact that my taxes pay for Bank debt in my country that I didn't cause, but it doesn't give me the right to demand my money back specifically for that. (i think i went off topic but still)

If a religious institution wants to do anything in the world outside religion then they should play by those rules. So then if you had a Catholic hospital they should act like a hospital since that’s the role they've chosen to adopt. If you’re not going to meet your obligations, don’t take on the responsibility.

A church or whatever that is acting strictly as a church obviously shouldn't even need to worry about this kind of thing since the only people they should be paying should be priests or whoever and they'll already agree with whatever the church stands for.

"Religious institution" should be very, very narrowly defined. If not, there's too much room for people with strong religious beliefs to abuse their positions of authority in non-religious areas.

If a religious institution wants to do anything in the world outside religion then they should play by those rules. So then if you had a Catholic hospital they should act like a hospital since that’s the role they've chosen to adopt. If you’re not going to meet your obligations, don’t take on the responsibility.

A church or whatever that is acting strictly as a church obviously shouldn't even need to worry about this kind of thing since the only people they should be paying should be priests or whoever and they'll already agree with whatever the church stands for.

"Religious institution" should be very, very narrowly defined. If not, there's too much room for people with strong religious beliefs to abuse their positions of authority in non-religious areas.

I agree completely. Although part of me would say that if they're going to be a Catholic Hospital, then there's to be no "interference" with it comes to abortion, contraception, end-of-life procedures, etc.

I agree completely. Although part of me would say that if they're going to be a Catholic Hospital, then there's to be no "interference" with it comes to abortion, contraception, end-of-life procedures, etc.

Do you mean interference by non-Catholics with the Catholic distaste for abortion and contraception, meaning Catholic hospitals should be allowed to opt out of providing those services, or do you mean Catholic Hospitals shouldn't interfere with providing those services?

It's not just that catholic hospitals don't want to be involved with contraception, abortion, and the like. They also have a tendency of being extremely unaccommodating toward queer people. For instance, they still won't allow same-sex spouses to see their hurt partner. They used to hide under the guise that they aren't legally married, but that's no longer an option where I live--but they still do it anyway. They also don't allow treatment for transgender people. I have to drive an half and a half to get to a clinic that isn't affiliated with the catholic church to go to a doctor that supports transgender people.

I believe they should. The idea of a religious hospital honestly feels like an oxymoron to me. The fact that some medical institutions can deny people fundamental reproductive rights seems like a constitutional issue that needs to be fixed. Sorry, but I'm a bit tired of religious institutions getting free passes and having little to no consequences for their human rights violations.

Though, we should also understand the usefulness of religious hospitals. The staff are paid much lower, many of whom volunteer, and they have provided many indigent families with medical care, they otherwise could not afford before the secular hospital ever existed.

"In 2012, the church operated 12.6% of hospitals in the USA, accounting for 15.6% of all admissions, and around 14.5% of hospital expenses (c. 98.6 billion dollars). Compared to the public system, the church provided greater financial assistance or free care to poor patients, and was a leading provider of various low-profit health services such as breast cancer screenings, nutrition programs, trauma, and care of the elderly."

The Church takes a HUGE financial burden off the US Healthcare System and has been involved in healthcare since the inception of the United States. Further, religious institutions operated most hospitals predating the 19th century. So it's not really an "oxymoron" or a contradiction of duties since history demonstrates otherwise.

And Psycho Yuffe, they do allow the treatment of transgender people, they don't specialize in treatment specifically tailored to transgender people though. If you had a broken arm, they would treat you. Same for other LGBT people. For patients with special LGBT needs, they should seek out help from specific healthcare institutions and doctors that specialize in those needs. These hospitals usual have doctors with a broader fields of medicine. For instance, around 1% or less of the population is transgender and the field of study is fairly new. There are only a handful of specialists that exist for the treatments, and these hospitals can't afford to hire those specialists.

I will say emergency abortion is a topic that should be discussed. Since, the mother's life is at stake, and the option to go to another hospital may not exist. Therefore, these hospitals should have the duty to provide in the best interest of the woman's health. However, if a woman decides to have an elective abortion, then the Church shouldn't have to provide the service.

These healthcare facilities are an integral component of the US healthcare system, they are currently NEEDED given the amount of care they provide with lower wages, saving hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Though, yes, some hospitals don't provide care for HIV medications for instance, ect, they lower the burden of other hospitals in other costs, of which would hike up healthcare costs for LGBT patients at secular hospitals. The existence of these hospitals benefits everyone's healthcare needs.

Though, we should also understand the usefulness of religious hospitals. The staff are paid much lower, many of whom volunteer, and they have provided many indigent families with medical care, they otherwise could not afford before the secular hospital ever existed.

"In 2012, the church operated 12.6% of hospitals in the USA, accounting for 15.6% of all admissions, and around 14.5% of hospital expenses (c. 98.6 billion dollars). Compared to the public system, the church provided greater financial assistance or free care to poor patients, and was a leading provider of various low-profit health services such as breast cancer screenings, nutrition programs, trauma, and care of the elderly."

The Church takes a HUGE financial burden off the US Healthcare System and has been involved in healthcare since the inception of the United States. Further, religious institutions operated most hospitals predating the 19th century. So it's not really an "oxymoron" or a contradiction of duties since history demonstrates otherwise.

And Psycho Yuffe, they do allow the treatment of transgender people, they don't specialize in treatment specifically tailored to transgender people though. If you had a broken arm, they would treat you. Same for other LGBT people. For patients with special LGBT needs, they should seek out help from specific healthcare institutions and doctors that specialize in those needs. These hospitals usual have doctors with a broader fields of medicine. For instance, around 1% or less of the population is transgender and the field of study is fairly new. There are only a handful of specialists that exist for the treatments, and these hospitals can't afford to hire those specialists.

I will say emergency abortion is a topic that should be discussed. Since, the mother's life is at stake, and the option to go to another hospital may not exist. Therefore, these hospitals should have the duty to provide in the best interest of the woman's health. However, if a woman decides to have an elective abortion, then the Church shouldn't have to provide the service.

These healthcare facilities are an integral component of the US healthcare system, they are currently NEEDED given the amount of care they provide with lower wages, saving hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Though, yes, some hospitals don't provide care for HIV medications for instance, ect, they lower the burden of other hospitals in other costs, of which would hike up healthcare costs for LGBT patients at secular hospitals. The existence of these hospitals benefits everyone's healthcare needs.

That does still not justify the discrimination, and that's the problem. The only way I can see this will fix itself is if people donated more to the cause of universal healthcare to all instead of donating to the church, and one can start putting up taxes on the rich, but that is still yet to happen.

Exactly. I never said that the catholic church doesn't help. It does a lot of charity work and helps a lot with health care. I was just don't think they need to be dicks about it. If you're trying to help people, it shouldn't matter where they come from, who they are, or who they love. If they need help, you should help them.

Also, your assumption that transgender specialists are expensive is also completely untrue. Any family physician can become a transgender specialist. You don't need to be an endocrinologist to prescribe hormones. My own physician has expressed a desire to help me, but can't because the clinic won't let him because it's affiliated with the catholic church.

It's an awkward thing when you have an organization that's doing charity work who also discriminates in who they help. (Excluding reasonable discrimination - helping to fix inner city poverty means you probably won't be helping the hungry in Darfur.)

Ideally we wouldn't have to rely on organizations that discriminate and we'd have the funds for enough medical personnel and facilities so that Catholic or other religiously affiliated hospitals would be an option for people instead of their only choice.

I think we're doing ourselves a disservice in saying that since a Catholic hospital is operating partially on charity it should be excused. I mean, if I were the boss of a business and I had ten employees and one of them didn't want to do certain tasks I'd replace them as soon as I could, even if I had to pay their replacement as much as the other nine. It's just that there isn't the will to pay for enough proper hospitals in some places. *coughAmericacough*

The PokéCommunity

Meta

Pokémon characters and images belong to The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo. This website is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Creatures, GAMEFREAK, or The Pokémon Company International. We just love Pokémon.